New Year’s eve set to be unusually subdued affair

With the police announcing several restrictions, many people will be celebrating at home or out of the city

View of Brigade Road on Tuesday.

With the police announcing several restrictions, including prohibiting gathering of more than five people on the road and on events, shows or programmes, New Year’s eve is set to be an unusually subdued affair this year.

While many Bengalureans may be planning to head out for dinner or drinks, others intend to celebrate at home or out of the city.

Jayna Kothari, senior advocate, along with her family, is in Goa. “We wanted to get away but we didn’t want to stay in a hotel or resort because of safety issues. Since a friend offered the use of his house, we decided to come to Goa. We have just been going to the beach and relaxing. New Year’s eve is also going to be like that. Actually, a lot of people from Bengaluru are here. So, we might meet a few others and have a nice, quiet time.”

However, the pandemic hasn’t led to a drastic change in the plans of Ramya Maiyya, who works in an MNC. “I’m never too adventurous with my New Year’s eve plans. It’s usually with friends from my apartment, getting together in someone’s house over food and drinks.”

Teacher Nivedh Jayanth and lawyer Anita Abraham are also looking at celebrating with smaller groups this year. “As of now, I am inviting over a friend and plan to open a bottle of champagne. I haven’t yet made plans to have a party by inviting more people,” says Ms. Abraham.

Mr. Jayanth adds, “I’m going to just chill with a couple of friends and celebrate over food and drinks. There’s a very high possibility that we’ll end up playing Settlers of Catan.”

While hotels, restaurants and pubs are not allowed to hold any special events, they are allowed to carry out business as usual.

Mukesh Tolani, director and co-founder, Toit, said, “We are offering some special food [the Christmas menu is for the whole month] and cocktails. But other than that, it’s going to be a regular service night for us. There’s no DJ, no dancing allowed. As per the guidelines, people have to book in advance. There will be a fully redeemable cover charge of ₹1,000 per head.”

Ranveer Sabhani, Business Head, south India, Impresario, which runs Social and Smoke House Deli, adds, “We will take it as any other day. We are going to write off 2020 from our books and our thoughts.”